pastorjohnb

Thoughts and musings on faith and our mighty God!

Tag Archives: love


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Love ‘Em More!

The parable of the weeds is such a great example of the challenges we all face.  There are ‘weeds’ all around – people and things – even in our churches!  One challenge is to live among the weeds and not to become like them.  The temptation to fit in can be great, even if just for a short time.  Another challenge is to continue to grow in the midst of the weeds we all have in our lives.  These weeds can be both within us and around us.  Satan is always sowing weeds and often they are tempting!

But I think our greatest challenge comes in trying to change the weeds into something else.  It would be easier to just stay within our church walls, to toss out all the weeds, and to live happily ever after.  In the end our churches would be pretty lonely places.

Jesus would counsel us to love on the weeds.  And when they don’t come around Jesus?  He’d tell us to love them some more.  And when they still don’t come around and they are a little messy?  Just love ’em some more!!  In my day today, how will I show love to someone in need of Jesus’ love?

Scripture reference: Matthew 13: 24-30


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Ever Closer

It is pretty easy to drift sometimes.  Even when we are at work and are being paid to produce something or to perform a task or to provide a service, we can drift off every now and then.  During the time each day away from work or school requirements, we can choose to do what we want with our time.  During this ‘free’ time, it is pretty easy to drift away from God.

Yet it is essential to spend time each day with God and Him alone.  Whether it is in the morning or evening or around the noon hour, it is important to set aside time each day.  We must be real and intentional about developing our relationship with God.  To read His word reveals Him to us.  To pray and to ask Him to search us allows Him to know us more fully, and in turn, to know ourselves more.

Daily submission allows God to become king of our lives 24/7.  As He searches, finds, and redeems us, we are drawn ever closer to Him.  We read in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  We become more like Him through our steadfast devotion to Him.

Scripture reference: Psalm 139: 23-24


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Ever Thankful

Our human nature naturally seeks what we perceive as best for us.  At times we may even rationalize and blur the lines for something we want.  It may be as simple as to win at a game or it may be as complex as attaining a position at work.

And then we realize the error of our ways.  The guilt – and not always in proportion to our sin – begins to set in.  We seek forgiveness – maybe from another, maybe from God, maybe from yourself, maybe from all three!  We try to ‘fix’ it if we can and try to restore our relationships and our reputation.  Maybe we even vow, “never again”.

At the point of repentance, God’s grace washes over us like a mighty river.  He washes away all of our iniquities and renews our soul.  His free gift is always there, always extended.  I am ever thankful for the price Jesus paid to wash away my sins.  Praise be to God for His amazing gift!

Scripture reference: Genesis 28: 10-19a


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Who Will You Choose?

How many times are you willing to ask a child to clean their rooms before you ‘tell them to (or else)?  How many times will a new acquaintance disappoint you until you decide not to pursue a friendship with that person?  If you are like me, I’d guess the answer to that question is ‘a few’.

Now imagine how great God’s love is that He pursues sinners like you and me relentlessly!  No matter how many times we fail, He is right there with open arms, a loving smile, and a welcoming heart.  What a love!

Pretty amazing!  Then add in the idea of free will.  We are not forced to choose God.  He does not lay out our lives in a predestined fashion.  The path we walk is the path we choose.  We set the course of our journey of faith.  Yes, on a daily basis, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He battles Satan for our souls. Yet in the end, it is our choice.  In light of the great love He has for us and the freedom He offers, who will you choose to serve this day?

Scripture reference: Genesis 25: 19-34


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Thank you Jesus!

When you ask a friend or a child to do something, would you rather have them say ‘yes’ and then no do it or would you rather have them say ‘no’ and do it anyway?  Neither is the ideal situation, but which do you prefer?  Does intention or completion matter more?

When we first say ‘yes’ to a personal and intimate relationship with Christ, it does not include any ‘but’ or ‘if’ or ‘when I’ statements.  At first it is just a big ‘YES!’  Soon enough though sin, or at least temptation, rears its ugly head.  Sin is almost a constant presence in our life.  Paul writes beautifully about this struggle in Romans 7.  The sin can be as small as an unkind thought or word or it can range to jealously eyeing your neighbor’s possessions.  In spite of our inner desires to live a life wholly pleasing to God, sin is always nearby.

Bluntly put, we cannot do it on our own.  Thankfully, through His time on the earth, Jesus empathizes with our human condition.  Though Jesus was without sin, in the time on earth He came to see our struggle.  So now, in heaven, He intercedes for us before God.  Without Christ we would be lost.  But thanks be to God for the gift of His Son!!  As constant as the struggle with sin is in our lives, more steady is the presence and love of Christ.  Thank you Jesus!!

Scripture reference: Romans 7: 15-25a


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The Low and Downtrodden

In our world there are many kinds of leaders – kings, presidents, premiers, dictators, and so on.  In most cases their primary focus is maintaining control or to stay in power.  They seek the favor of those who will re-elect them or who help the stay in power.  In these systems, there is no need to be concerned with the low and the downtrodden.

What a contrast to what God taught the Jews and to what Jesus taught the disciples and now teaches us.  The idea of ‘love your neighbor’ had no caveats or asterisks.  All people are to be loved and cared for – especially the low and downtrodden.  Yet these are the people who can only offer thanks in return for kindness and love.  Their vote is minimal at best.

Can we meld the two and have a viable leader?  Is it possible to govern well and to defend the oppressed, to stop injustice, and to care for the needy?  Is it possible to care for the low and downtrodden while being loving and fair to the high and mighty as well?  The key is the same: love your neighbor.

Scripture Reference: Psalm 72


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Practicing Presence

At the Passover meal, Jews today still set an empty (or extra) place at the table in hopes that Elijah will come.  In some Christian homes and communities we set a ‘Christ plate’ with the same basic idea.  Both long for the presence of the King.

During his ministry, Jesus often chose to engage and spend time with the least.  He was all about providing that space at the ‘table’ for them.  He welcomed all shapes of life into His world and continues to do so.  Jesus knew that God loves all equally and fully, so He treated all that way.

As we return from a week of mission work in Seattle, I am full of memories of Youth and adults alike who chose to engage people in need.  It is easier to do so on a mission trip because it is ‘expected’ but by practicing hospitality, generosity, and love each of us are now better prepared to extend these things in our normal, everyday lives.

In our encounters this week and in the weeks ahead, we will encounter Jesus in some we meet.  In other encounters people will experience Jesus through us.  What a blessing it is to be in and to share the presence of our living savior, Jesus Christ.

Scripture reference: Matthew 10: 40-42


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Tell the Story!

New life often begins in the spring.  It can be a flower poking through or the first buds on a tree beginning to show.  The signal of new life puts a bit of a bounce in your step and hope in your heart.

The promises of God’s faithfulness, love, and the hope of salvation do the same thing.  The sight of an older couple holding hands as they walk or the awe that settles in at the birth of a child remind us of life to the full.  Of the life God desires for us.

Yet at times in life we can feel trapped or stuck.  The sense of bring lost or of simply being tired can rob us of seeing the life God offers.  Thankfully in these seasons and timed of life we can rest into God and find renewal in His word.  These experience become part of our story.

We are called to be disciples and to make disciples.  When we share these stories of God’s promise and God’s hand in our lives, we are giving others a step towards God.  It is through these stories of faith that God becomes more real for others.  Be a good storyteller.

Scripture reference: Psalm 13: 5-6


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In Our Moments

Have you had someone suddenly mad at you or suddenly lost a friend and had no idea why?  In that moment, you were probably stunned, sad, angry, hurt.  Sometimes you figure it out and become friends again, sometimes you do not.  Sometimes you just never know.

Hagar was Sarah’s maidservant.  Sarah was barren and advanced in years, but desperately wanted a family.  So Sarah convinced Hagar to sleep with her husband Abraham to bear them a child.  I imagine it was hard to  bear a child for a man who would never love her, who already had a wife he loved.  But she did.  I imagine that Hagar felt like she had done something special for Sarah and Abraham.

Fast forward a few years and now Sarah is pregnant and bears Abraham a son named Isaac.  Sarah becomes jealous and protective and wants Hagar and her son Ishmael sent away into the wilderness.  Abraham is unwilling but God reassures him of he plan and he sends Hagar and son out into the desert with some bread and water – presumably to die.  As this happens, can you imagine what is going through Hagar’s mind?  Do you hear her thinking, “But after what I did for you…?”

After they run out of water, Hagar walks off a little way from Ishmael and resigns herself to death.  She cannot bear to be near him and to hear his cries for water.  Hagar is in anguish.  But then suddenly a strange thing happens.  God sends an angel who asks her, “What is the matter?”  What a question!  God provides water, reassures her, and continues to watch over them as the boy grows up.  It all turns out OK for them.

Has God ever asked you, “What is the mattter?”  Has God ever entered into your brokenness?  You and I are blessed – always just a prayer away from God’s presence.  Yet sometimes we too are like Hagar – too broken and distraught to even offer up a prayer.  In these moments God will seek us out too.  Our God is a God of love.  A God who will seek out to lost and the broken.  Praise be to our God!!


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We Too Will Be Blessed

Do you recall a time when you let go of something that you did not have to, in order to be in a better place or situation?  Maybe it was a house or a town, maybe it was a friend or someone you were dating, or maybe it was a job or volunteer position.  The promise or call of what lay ahead drew you forward.  Yet there is still some pain in the letting go.

In times of decisions like these, we need to spend time in prayer with God and to seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  When we have wrestled with the decision with God at our side and the Holy Spirit leading us on, we move forward in a much different manner than if we go it alone.

Like Abraham, when God told him to send Hagar and Ishmael (his firstborn son) out into the wilderness, we too can move forward with God at our side.  Despite the pain of watching them walk away forever, into a wilderness, Abraham knew this was God’s plan and he trusted and obeyed.  He did so because he knew God is faithful.  He knew God’s promise is to never leave us.  He knew God’s promise is to always love us.  Upon His promises we too can walk forward with confidence and assurance.  And we too will be blessed.

Scripture reference: Genesis 21: 8-21